Enborne is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 and civil parish in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

It is situated just to the west of Newbury

Newbury, Berkshire

Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...

 in West Berkshire

West Berkshire

West Berkshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England, governed by a unitary authority . Its administrative capital is Newbury, located almost equidistantly between Bristol and London.-Geography:...

. The River Enborne

River Enborne

thumb|left|250px|River Enbournethumb|left|250px|River Enbourne at Headley Ford, near Crookham Commonthumb|left|250px|River Enborne at Shalford bridge, near [[Brimpton]]thumb|left|250px|Oxford Bridge over a small tributary of the River Enborne, near Inwood Copse...

 shares its name, although it does not run through the village; rather, it runs through the nearby village of Enborne Row

Enborne Row

Enborne Row is a hamlet in Berkshire, England, located on the county's border with Hampshire. The hamlet is within the civil parish of Enborne.The settlement lies next to the A34 road, and is located approximately south-west of Newbury....

.

Traditional legal practices

Enborne historically adhered to an unusual legal practice. The rights to copyhold

Copyhold

At its origin in medieval England, copyhold tenure was tenure of land according to the custom of the manor, the "title deeds" being a copy of the record of the manorial court....

land inheritance from a husband were forfeited if his widow remarried. However, the steward of the manor was obliged to reinstate the rights if she rode into the manor court, backwards on a black ram, whilst at the same time reciting a particular set of bizarre lines ending in a request for their restoration.